You Don’t Have to Play It SAFE (Stetson Alumnae Female Entrepreneurs) Round Table is open to the public, free of charge. It will be held in the Rinker Auditorium, first floor, Lynn Business Center, 345 N. Woodland Blvd., on the DeLand campus. It will feature the following Stetson alumnae:

Ashley Lauren Kerr http://www.ashleylaurenkerr.com/en-home

Abigail Breslin

Tiffany Kechler Liashek http://studiosouthfitness.com/

Reatha Johnson http://www.skillzmatic.com/

Abigail Bresslin http://www.thewanderlustgirls.com/

Daffnee Cohen http://www.daffneecohen.com/

Reatha Johnson

Jacqui Dua http://www.celebrationcup.com/

“Dr. (Gary) Oliphant and I are now working in the Department of Management, Entrepreneurship and Family Business,” said Rebecca Oliphant, Ph.D., associate professor in the Prince Entrepreneurship Program, “and we want to showcase our young Stetson grads who are entrepreneurs.”

“In early February a group of entrepreneurs who worked in franchising or owned at least one franchise visited Stetson and the auditorium was overflowing with students,” Oliphant explained. “There was standing room only to hear the topic of how to run your own business; it is of great interest to all students,” she said.

The goal is to offer entrepreneurship classes across disciplinary lines including music, history, digital arts and computer sciences for entrepreneurship, and there are more courses in the planning stages. “Having these women come and speak about their businesses and their success will be another large step toward reaching our goal,” she said.

“Many young women at Stetson currently are excited by the challenges of owning their own business someday,” said Oliphant. “With information and stories about what it really takes to start, coming from each of the entrepreneur participants, they will be one step closer,” she said.

Landaal Packaging Systems, a family enterprise based in Flint, Mich., focused almost exclusively on the corrugated box industry for more than half a century. After dramatic changes in both the family and the marketplace, the family began to shift its identity away from the box industry to focus more on the family itself. The United States corrugated paper industry was losing the battle with China, resulting in ever-shrinking margins and consolidation of firms. The family had prematurely lost three of the four siblings in the second generation. The Landaal family created an innovation center to help revitalize the local community, redirecting its focus from corrugated paper toward customized packaging, point-of-purchase displays and sustainable packaging.

Landaal’s story reflects a growing trend: Successful enterprising families are becoming more aligned with their values, more cohesive and more resilient in order to handle the greater stress and complexity arising from today’s exponential rate of change.

In a landmark global study published in 2012, The FFI/Goodman Longevity Study, 90 percent of the families who responded owned more than one business and 20 percent owned more than five. On average, those surveyed had changed their core business more than two times.

A colleague, Rich Morris, points out that in the past, one good business idea might sustain a family for three generations. Today, each generation will need to come up with three good business ideas just to keep up with the changing world.

Bob Landaal shows a new product developed as a result of the family business’ flexibility in product development.

As the family business changes, so will the family’s identity. A family like the Landaals may no longer self-identify as “the box people,” for instance, but rather as an enterprising family that deploys its talent, financial resources and networks in ways that align with its core values and purpose. Thus the family (rather than the legacy business) is viewed as the entity through which money flows and where entrepreneurial talent is cultivated.

To make this transition successfully, the family will need to reflect on and define its purpose and values. It should address not only the question, “What kind of business or enterprise do we want to be?” but also, “What kind of family do we want to be?”

The Haws Corporation, of Sparks, Nev., a successful manufacturer of drinking fountains for more than a century, has embarked upon a proactive approach to family governance. Recognizing the competitive advantage of being family owned, it uses its family governance to align the goals of the owning family with the board and management team while developing the next generation of family ownership.

The result has been an increase in the breadth and depth of business opportunities that they now pursue within and outside of their core business. Rather than remaining tied to their past, they are visioning the future and bolting on new businesses that will be more relevant to their next generation of family ownership. Investing in technology and bringing new solutions to their existing customers is helping to build a whole new enterprise that would not have been possible by simply continuing to invest in the “old” business.

Four Types of Cohesion

How might you involve your own family to more effectively and proactively respond to changes in your core industry? First, you should establish family cohesion and alignment. One model emerged from a 2008 study by Torsten M. Pieper and Joseph H. Astrachan. The study found families that have been in business for a century or longer tend to have high levels of cohesion in four areas.

Family emotional cohesion: Family members get their most basic needs (for belonging, security and connection) met through the family, which functions and communicates well. These families convene family gatherings, engage in charitable activities as a group and take other steps to stay connected.

Family financial cohesion: The family provides for its members through gifts, inheritance and other mechanisms.

Business financial cohesion: The business provides benefits to the family through salaries, dividends and investment opportunities.

Business emotional cohesion: Family members consider the business to be part of their identity. They have a sense of loyalty and stewardship to the family firm.

These four types of cohesion evolved over time in long-lasting family businesses, but they can be deliberately cultivated during the early stages of family enterprise.

How might your family create greater alignment, cohesion and resiliency? Family business leaders should consider three factors: innovation, awareness and practice.

Innovating With the Family

Innovation is change that creates value. Virtually every business must look at both incremental innovation (how to improve a store, a product or a service) and breakthrough innovation (how to go from Blockbuster to Netflix). The family must approach its enterprises with an innovative mindset.

Family enterprises often resist change. Families tend to seek harmony and stability, which can easily lead to stagnation. Once the business enters its second generation, members can become risk-averse, sometimes to an extreme.

Innovation should be considered a crucial part of the family’s values and purpose. Given the impact of rapidly evolving technology, generational differences and a changing competitive environment, families must be open to rethinking their relationships to their enterprises.

Cleveland-based Bird Technologies, for example, operationalized its values through an ongoing practice of clarifying the family’s core values and translating them into business values. The non-family CEO reports periodically to the board and the shareholders on how business results were achieved in line with shareholder values. This operational, tangible and holistic integration of shareholder values with business function creates and sustains a culture that exhibits the four types of cohesion.

Deep Dive Into Awareness

Consider the time, energy, talent and reporting you devote to your business. Now compare that to the effort you make to enhance your family’s involvement in its enterprises.

A family system is highly complex. Each member brings to the table his or her unique behavior patterns, roles and ways to deal with stress. Along with this complexity comes greater interdependency, so stress and change in any part of the system affects the whole.

If this is not brought into awareness and considered in business choices, the family cohesion is put at risk and what could be a strategic advantage turns into a threat.

Family leaders should assess each individual’s identity and values—what drives them and how they contribute to the family’s individual and collective strengths, weaknesses and blind spots. How does the family cultivate and convey its character and align it with the family’s reputation? Each of these factors can be viewed relative to the four types of cohesion described above.

Families and their advisers can be tempted to rely too much on structure and outcomes and thus minimize the importance of process and innovation. Your family can’t outsource this self-analysis to a lawyer or accountant any more than your fitness coach can do your workout for you.

Planning, structures and policies can be productive after this deep dive into self-assessment. Otherwise, such planning is at best defensive and at worst a land mine waiting to be stepped on.

Too often, we resist dealing with the “soft” or human side of a business—the family—until there is a crisis. This reactive mindset should be replaced in family enterprises by a proactive model that builds momentum as entrenched communication patterns are identified and defined.

This proactive process deepens as the defenses and underlying emotions that fuel negative patterns are exposed. This creates an opening for rebuilding damaged relationships. The family will emerge with a better understanding of one another, a chance to build trust and commitment, and productive methods of communicating.

Ongoing Practice

If each year your family went away for a weekend to listen to fitness experts talk about the latest trends in exercise science—and that was all you did to stay in shape—what kind of condition would you be in? Let’s extend this analogy to your family enterprise: If you and your family don’t regularly undergo a process of assessment and strategic planning, your enterprise will not be healthy.

Just as you might start a fitness program by getting a thorough assessment, you can do the same with your family enterprise. What are your strengths, weaknesses and goals? You might factor both strength and cardio fitness into your workout regimen; similarly, you should factor values, trust, education and communication into your “family practice regimen.”

Everyone in the family must be willing to start out by working on himself or herself. To focus on “fixing” one family member will undermine true progress. The most effective way you can encourage another family member to take responsibility for and work on his or her own issues is by modeling the desired behavior.

Most of us exercise more effectively when we work out with others and when we have good coaching. You can find “workout buddies” by attending conferences and peer-group sessions, and a consultant can do the coaching. But remember, you still have to do the heavy lifting yourself.

Greg McCann, J.D., is the founder of the consulting firm McCann & Associates and founder and director (1998-2006, 2009-2014) of Stetson University’s Family Enterprise Center. He speaks, writes, consults and teaches on family enterprise.

This article originally appeared inFamily Business Magazine’sJan/Feb 2015 issue (Equip your family for success in today’s world) and is reproduced here with the permission of the publisher.

]]>http://www.stetson.edu/today/2015/03/aligning-with-values-helps-family-business-cohesion-success/feed/0An Interview with Tommye Barie ’83, AICPA Chairhttp://www.stetson.edu/today/2015/03/an-interview-with-tommye-barie-83-aicpa-chair/
http://www.stetson.edu/today/2015/03/an-interview-with-tommye-barie-83-aicpa-chair/#commentsTue, 03 Mar 2015 20:00:10 +0000http://www.stetson.edu/today/?p=13867Stetson alumna Tommye E. Barie has been elected the 102nd Chair of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). The AICPA is the largest member association of the accounting profession in the world, boasting more than 400,000 members in 145 countries. Since 1887, the AICPA has served the public interest in many areas, such as business and industry, public practice, government, and education and consulting. Earning her B.B.A. in Accounting from Stetson University in 1983, Barie is only the fourth female to be elected chair in the history of AICPA.

“The faculty of the M.E. Rinker, Sr. Institute of Tax and Accountancy are indeed very proud of Tommye,” said Michael E. Bitter, Ph.D., Rinker Distinguished Professor of Accounting and Department Chair. “Not only for her election as chair of the AICPA this year, but for all that she has done for the accounting profession in the State of Florida and in the U.S. over the years and for her professional successes as a CPA practicing on the west coast of Florida.”

Barie joins the ranks of other successful Stetson accounting alumni, including Jeff Barbacci ’91, M.Acc. ’92 (Master of Accountancy), who was elected to serve as the 87th board chair of the Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants (FICPA) for 2014-2015. “It is extraordinary for a small accounting program such as Stetson’s to boast not one, but two AICPA chairs among its alumni. I expect our curriculum to continue to change and evolve to ensure that our students continue to be well-prepared to enter the accounting profession,” added Bitter. “Tommye’s successes are excellent examples for our students, particularly our female students, of the kinds of opportunities available to them once they graduate from Stetson.”

Interviewer: For those who do not know, could you explain what you do as a CPA?

Barie: Think of a CPA as the most highly trusted business advisor with diverse qualifications that allow him/her the potential to be many things. They are chief financial officers for Fortune 500 companies and advisors to small neighborhood businesses. They work for public accounting firms, both small and large. CPAs provide a number of valuable and useful services to individuals, business owners, government agencies and nonprofit organizations. Their services range from helping an individual develop a personal financial plan to assisting a business owner with things like tax planning, financial statement analysis and understanding complex financial transactions for business decision-making.

I have worked in public accounting my entire career with firms of all sizes. I started with a two partner firm upon graduation from Stetson and I am now a partner with a top 100 firm with six offices in four states. I have provided many different services throughout my career, but my focus the last several years has been in the assurance area overseeing audits of governmental, not-for-profit, and small business entities.

Interviewer: In what ways do you make a positive impact with this?

Barie: CPAs are innovative and strategic thinkers who are well respected for their integrity and commitment to excellence. Our ability to use these characteristics in translating complex information into critical knowledge and communicating the broad picture with clarity and objectivity is invaluable in the decision-making process of a client. Also, as independent auditors issuing audit opinions, we provide reasonable assurance as to the truthfulness and reliability of financial information, thus protecting the public’s interest.

Interviewer: Could you give some specific examples of the types of clients you’ve helped?

Barie: Here are two examples: 1) We have a small client on the west coast of Florida who repairs generators. They’re not huge, but they decided to expand their operations into Chile, which required them to figure out myriad international issues—from planning the move, to operating the plant, to tax issues. They tapped into the skills of their CPA for assistance and advice. 2) Also, a small business contacted us with concern that the bookkeeper might be embezzling funds from the entity. Through the work of one of our auditors who is credentialed in the forensics area, we were able to help them quantify how much the bookkeeper had stolen.

Interviewer: You recently became the AICPA’s 102nd chair, and historically you are the fourth female chair. Can you talk about this accomplishment and a bit of how you came to be there?

Barie: Volunteering has been an important component in my career. I enjoyed contributing to our profession’s success at the chapter level of the Florida Institute of CPAs (FICPA), then at the FICPA state level, and then through committee, Council, and Board service with AICPA. At each stage I realized the impact one person’s hard work could have so I continued to strategically pursue opportunities of interest to me. I was dedicated to seeking high profile assignments that would allow me to further develop and exhibit leadership skills and make a difference in the profession. When I accepted my first volunteer officer’s position with a local FICPA chapter early in my career, I never dreamed I would become chair of the national organization. Serving as chair of AICPA is an unbelievable experience. My platform is based on three factors critical to the profession’s continued success: Relevance, Rigor, and Reach.

Interviewer: Can you tell me about your experience at Stetson?

Barie: I absolutely loved everything about Stetson and if I had a chance to turn back time, I cannot think of anything I would change that could enhance the amazing four years I had on campus. I loved the small class size and interaction between faculty and students. I loved being part of the Greek system and playing every intramural sport offered.

By George Salis

]]>http://www.stetson.edu/today/2015/03/an-interview-with-tommye-barie-83-aicpa-chair/feed/0Stetson included in U.S. News Best Online Graduate Business Programs 2015http://www.stetson.edu/today/2015/01/stetson-included-in-u-s-news-best-online-graduate-business-programs-2015/
http://www.stetson.edu/today/2015/01/stetson-included-in-u-s-news-best-online-graduate-business-programs-2015/#commentsFri, 16 Jan 2015 15:16:34 +0000http://www.stetson.edu/today/?p=13395Stetson University’s Master of Accountancy (M.Acc.) program is earning recognition again in U.S. News & World Report’s 2015 Best Online Graduate Business Programs (excluding MBA) where it tied for 42 in the nation. Stetson tied for 93 in Online MBA and Graduate Business Programs specifically for the joint Master of Pharmacy/Master of Business Administration program (Pharma/M.B.A.).

Listed consistently as one of the South’s leading universities since the U.S. News survey of colleges and universities was first published in 1985, Stetson’s online graduate business programs are accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), known as the ‘gold standard’ of business school accreditation. (The Lynn Business Center at Stetson University is pictured above.)

Because this year’s rankings were divided between programs offering M.B.A.s and those that exclude M.B.A.s, the rankings and data for 2015 are not analytically comparable to those from years past. Only 118 schools are ranked this year, compared with 225 the previous year.

“Our online Master of Accountancy program is now in its sixth year,” said Michael Bitter, Ph.D., Rinker Distinguished Professor of Accounting and chair of Stetson’s M.E. Rinker, Sr. Institute of Tax and Accountancy. “We are very proud of the quality of our program – our faculty, our students and our curriculum – and are pleased that we were one of the very first universities to offer top quality online graduate education in accounting to working professionals. Our program has helped students meet CPA examination requirements, enhance their knowledge and skills, attain promotions and compensation increases, advance in their field, and, in some cases, transition into accounting education.”

In Stetson’s joint Master of Pharmacy/Master of Business Administration (Pharma/M.B.A.) program, founded in 2010-2011, students earn both a Master of Business Administration degree from Stetson University and a Master of Pharmacy from the University of Florida. More information on Stetson’s Pharma/M.B.A. program can be found in the University Catalog.

U.S. News rankings are based on several key measures of quality including the following five general categories: Student Engagement; Admissions Selectivity; Peer Reputation; Faculty Credentials and Training; and Student Services and Technology.

“The Stetson distinction resides in the mindset of developing our students within an innovative, integrated, and intimate environment which changes lives in addition to career preparation,” School of Business Administration Dean Tom Schwarz said. “Our students are challenged and dared to lead significant lives that have an impact upon our communities. Our students are ready to lead, ready to work.”

Other graduate programs offered at Stetson University include programs in the Department of Education and the Department of Counselor Education, both part of Stetson’s College of Arts and Sciences.

Stetson College of Law offers graduate programs in Law, Advocacy, Elder Law, International Law, and a joint graduate program in Law and Business Administration.

Besides the online M.Acc. program and the Pharma/M.B.A. joint program, Stetson’s School of Business Administration also offers the M.Acc. program at the DeLand campus, and graduate programs in Business Administration, Executive Business Administration, and Law and Business Administration.

Stetson also ranked #27 by Accounting Degree Review, which recently published its first annual affordability rankings of online master’s degrees in accounting. The rankings comprise the top 30 most affordable online programs, based on tuition and fees of the whole program for an out-of-state student enrolling in the 2014-2015 academic year. Learn more about the rankings and view it here in its entirety.

Stetson’s School of Business Administration and the accounting program are both fully accredited at the undergraduate and graduate levels by the AACSB. Stetson University is one of a handful of elite business schools that has both business and accounting programs accredited by AACSB International.

]]>http://www.stetson.edu/today/2015/01/stetson-included-in-u-s-news-best-online-graduate-business-programs-2015/feed/0Professional certifications add clout to resuméshttp://www.stetson.edu/today/2014/12/professional-certifications-add-clout-to-resumes/
http://www.stetson.edu/today/2014/12/professional-certifications-add-clout-to-resumes/#commentsFri, 26 Dec 2014 13:35:52 +0000http://www.stetson.edu/today/?p=13188Deborah Goldring’s undergraduate Digital Marketing Strategy class is designed to look at strategic decisions and tactical applications in digital marketing from the perspective of the marketing manager. Students learn to implement key marketing objectives such as brand awareness, customer acquisition and retention. And it’s the first marketing class to require students to be certified in Google Adwords and Hubspot Inbound.

“Two certifications are required and I offered some optional ones as well, because they take a lot of time to do,” explained Deborah Goldring, Ph.D., assistant professor of marketing. “The certifications are completed outside the classroom experience. It’s part of the enhanced learning of our unit system.”

“What I’m doing in class is teaching conceptual ideas and frameworks about digital marketing,” said Goldring. “And then the students can apply that knowledge to high-value marketing certifications.. This class fits with Stetson’s value of personal responsibility. My students are going to interviews and most employers look at the brand name of the university. Stetson has a great reputation and brand. A business degree also puts you ahead of a lot of people because it’s a very practical degree. But there is so much competition for good jobs. . You need a way to separate yourself from the pack. And these certifications really show something more.”

Alexis Aldamuy, ‘14, (pictured above) is a student in Goldring’s class, who is majoring in communication and media studies and minoring in marketing and journalism.

“Digital marketing is much denser than other forms of marketing,” said Aldamuy. “Getting the certifications was challenging. The first time taking the test was to get a feel for how I would be tested on the information. Then came the studying for the next couple of weeks. The tests are really applied, not simple questions like ‘what is the definition of impressions and click-through rate?’ A great thing about this course, though, is that with these certifications, we participated in a digital simulation where we were able to put these certifications into practice. That was when we really got to learn what they are all about. We were able to actually use what we have learned in specific situations.”

Aldamuy was able to get an internship with EdgeCore, an award-winning digital marketing agency in Winter Park whose clients include Tijuana Flats, Sonny’s BBQ, Courtyard Marriott, and Verizon Wireless, among others. Stetson graduate and Digital Marketing Manager Heather Lyles spoke to the class about Edgecore and Alexis made the connection.

“Alexis’ certification definitely gave her a leg-up,” said David Wheeler, vice president of Operations at EdgeCore. “The company created a paid internship program within the last year,” said Wheeler, “and the more certifications any applicant has, the better chance they have of receiving the internship. But it is unusual to find students who are about to graduate with these kinds of credentials.”

“This is a new partnership with Stetson,” continued Wheeler, “and it’s a great asset to the company. The quality of Alexis’ Stetson education says a lot about her.”

Three Stetson juniors: Abby Thompson, Annie Roche, pictured riding a camel in Morocco, and Emmie Wenzell, entered the Canvas My Campus competition, a global university online crowd-funding contest for people who want to share their ideas for creating change internationally. This campaign, which represents a partnership between Prezi and tilt, provides a platform to reinvent the art of presentation and fundraise for a cause for people who want to share their ideas and create change internationally.

Out of hundreds of people to enter this online competition, these Stetson finalists are now in the top 10 competitors, and need your contribution to win BY 11:59 p.m., FRIDAY, DEC. 19! Find out more about the Canvas my Campus international competition on their website.

How does it work? Students set a minimum dollar goal, and when the group “tilts,” or reaches that amount, people will be charged. Currently Tilt has $37.1 million from three rounds of this type of crowd-funding, and these three Stetson juniors are now a part of this progression.

If they win, they get free Prezi EDU Prop for a year for the entire university, which includes students, faculty and staff, valued at $180,000 collectively for the entire university. They would also win a free trip to San Francisco to visit the Prezi and Tilt headquarters. Two winners will be selected—one by tilt and Prezi staff, and the other will be selected by the public, based on the Tilt campaign.

The three Stetson business students are from different states and traveled to different countries this past year through Stetson’s WORLD: Rinker Center for International Learning/Study Abroad program. Thompson and Wenzell studied in Madrid, Spain; Roche participated in the Semester at Sea program. Their experiences have inspired them to create an international youth ‘think tank.’

The mission of the ‘think tank’ idea is to develop the idea of global responsibility through the facilitation of international thoughts, ideas, and information coming from young leaders.

“Our idea started when Abby and I were in Morocco during our time in Spain. We got to spend lots of time with Moroccan university students and were extremely impressed with ideas that they had,” said Wenzell. “We realized that there are countless students and other youth around the world with incredible ideas, but many of them have no outlet with which to spread these ideas. Here in the United States and at a university like Stetson, we have countless resources and outlets of our own. So, we asked ourselves, ‘why don’t we use what we have here to help others spread their ideas?’”

They call their project youHAV, which means Youth Have A Voice. “The idea for the project really expounds upon our campus’ value of global citizenship,” Wenzell said. These young women have also been influenced by Matt Kurz, director of Student Development and Campus Vibrancy. “Matt has and is always willing to invest in us beyond just what we learn in the classroom,” they explained. “He encouraged us to take on opportunities such as this contest.”

Their goal is to empower young leaders and make positive changes globally and locally. “As we can see in the small classes offered at Stetson, bringing together passionate people allows for incredible conversations and idea development,” Wenzell said. “So on a grander scale, we figure that bringing together people with vastly different backgrounds and life experiences would foster an environment for incredible discourse, and who knows what ideas could come from it. Basing it here on campus seems to align perfectly with all three core values (Intellectual Development, Personal Growth and Global Citizenship) that Stetson already promotes,” she said.

So, what do these three Stetson students need to do to win? Through their Tilt campaign, they need to put their crowd-funding into action. More than raising the most money, it is about the number of people who respond to their campaign online.

The more people to respond, the higher a chance they have to win. The amount of the donation is not as important as simply the number of people to contribute to the Stetson team. To donate and register your vote for Stetson’s entry into the Canvas my Campus international campaign, visit Canvas my Campus – Finalist – Stetson University.

Win or not, these students are hoping to put up their website and start bringing people together for forum discussions, through Skype meetings, and more. Their long-term goal is to have an application process and a tier ranking of ambassadors from a country, while also having other members from within the same country still involved. “We have a long term goal of being able to bring people together,” they concluded.

By Grace Aguda

]]>http://www.stetson.edu/today/2014/12/business-students-now-in-top-10-crowd-funding-competition/feed/0‘Idea Pitch’ entrepreneurial winners announcedhttp://www.stetson.edu/today/2014/12/idea-pitch-entrepreneurial-winners-announced/
http://www.stetson.edu/today/2014/12/idea-pitch-entrepreneurial-winners-announced/#commentsThu, 04 Dec 2014 14:21:29 +0000http://www.stetson.edu/today/?p=13112The winners for Stetson University’s second annual “Idea Pitch” competition were named last month at an event sponsored by the Stetson Entrepreneurial Group (SEG). There were 73 unique pitches entered on the Stetson Entrepreneurial Group Facebook page and from these, 18 pitches were selected for the final live presentation.

Seven entrepreneurs from around Central Florida came to judge the event. They were: Jim Atkinson, founder and executive director of PASS, an NPO based in Edgewater, Fla., which provides employment services to persons with disabilities; Jayne Rocco, current owner and operator of Calamity Jayne’s Nightclub in DeLand, whose philanthropic cause is advocating for domestic violence victims; Connie Bernal, associate director/site manager of the UCF Business Incubator at Daytona Beach International Airport; Walter (Marty) Cummins, Jr., lawyer, who is now devoting his time to developing and implementing the Enlightened Capitalism philosophy which advocates “doing well by doing good” in business; Clayton Louis Ferrara, current executive director of IDEAS for US and the director of Science at Ampersand, a K-12 Private School; Regina Henderson who recently sold AFC Global Logistics, a company providing freight forwarding services to Fortune 500 companies; and John Meyer, managing director/majority owner of Kermit’s Key West Key Lime Shoppe, that sells gourmet food with key limes as one of the main ingredients. Meyer’s pies were recently featured in a National Geographic food magazine devoted to “foods you must try in your lifetime.”

The competition had two categories (Social and For-Profit), and the winners are:

Prizes of $300 for first, $200 for second and $100 for third, were awarded for both categories. But the real lessons came from suggestions given by the judges and practicing Entrepreneurial Selling in front of a packed crowd of 130 students gathered in the Rinker Auditorium inside Stetson’s Lynn Business Center.

Next semester the SEG will be hosting a Stetson Pitch contest with ideas that will solve a problem or add to the vibrancy of Stetson University. They will also be hosting a round table of young women who are Stetson alumnae, who will focus on being a female entrepreneur.

SEG meets every week; in addition to hosting monthly speakers at their meetings, they have dinner once a month at the faculty sponsors’ house to share food and ideas. Next semester, they will also be hosting a monthly mini-pitch to continue practicing and sharing ideas. The motto of the group is “Entrepreneurship is not a solo sport!”

]]>http://www.stetson.edu/today/2014/12/idea-pitch-entrepreneurial-winners-announced/feed/0SU Wins 3rd in Collegiate Ethics Case Competitionhttp://www.stetson.edu/today/2014/11/su-wins-3rd-in-collegiate-ethics-case-competition/
http://www.stetson.edu/today/2014/11/su-wins-3rd-in-collegiate-ethics-case-competition/#commentsTue, 04 Nov 2014 19:51:07 +0000http://www.stetson.edu/today/?p=12753Stetson students placed third in the national Collegiate Ethics Case Competition held in October at the Eller School of Management at the University of Arizona. The Stetson team of Emma Campbell (right) and David Sawyer (left), coached by Dr. Jim Beasley and Dr. John Tichenor, competed against 27 other universities from around the U.S. and Canada. The Stetson team won the Eastern Regional bracket against six other teams, including University of Oregon, Emory University, Arizona State University, University of Idaho, Concordia University, and University of Colorado—Boulder. In the finals, Stetson competed against bracket winners Indiana University, University of Texas—Dallas, and University of Alberta.

Stetson was the smallest University to field a team in the national competition, being one of seven private institutions that participated, including La Salle University, Yale University, Brigham Young University, Boston College, Elon University, and Emory University. The University of Florida was the only other participating institution from the Sunshine State.

Campbell ’16, a double major in Business Systems Analytics and Family Enterprise from Wesley Chapel, Fla. said, “Participation in the Collegiate Ethics Case Competition was an experience that will benefit me for the rest of my professional career. The opportunity to sharpen my research, analytical, presentation, and problem solving skills in a competitive environment will give me an edge in a job market where employers are seeking persons with this kind of training.”

Sawyer ’15, a Finance major with a minor in Entrepreneurship, echoed his colleague’s sentiment saying, “As an athlete I have long had a competitive spirit. This intellectual challenge moved me to a new level in the development of skills that will undergird my continuing embrace of innovation and entrepreneurship.” Sawyer is from Oviedo, Fla., and, in addition to his full-time studies at Stetson, serves as head coach of boys soccer at New Smyrna Beach High School, having been recognized as the youngest high school head coach in the state of Florida.

Teams invited to the National Collegiate Ethics Case Competition are given a business case three weeks before the competition. This year’s case was on corporate tax inversions, an increasingly popular option exercised by U.S. companies who choose to reincorporate in another country, often for the purpose of lowering corporate tax expenses. Burger King’s recent decision to reincorporate in Canada has drawn considerable international attention. Student teams were asked to assume the identity of consultants who are offering advice to a company considering a corporate inversion. They were required to deliver a 20-minute presentation on the financial, legal, and ethical implications of the decision facing the company board of directors.

Beasley, Professor of Management, initiated Stetson’s participation in business ethics case competitions when he secured an invitation to the 2013 Arizona event and took two student members of the newly-formed Stetson Organization for Business Ethics (SOBE), Katie Kurtz ’14 and Ken DeMoya ’15, to represent Stetson in last year’s competition. DeMoya is the current president of SOBE. Beasley and Tichenor, who is Chair of the Management Department, intend to expand Stetson’s presence in this significant area of experiential learning by pursuing funding to send teams to other national competitions, including the International Business Ethics Case Competition, sponsored annually by the Ethics and Compliance Officer Association. Tichenor said of the 2014 event at the University of Arizona, “The outstanding performance of Emma and David on this national stage is both illustrative of the capability of our students and supportive of the core values of the University. Jim and I hope to give increasingly more students the opportunity to gain this kind of practical educational experience.”

]]>http://www.stetson.edu/today/2014/11/su-wins-3rd-in-collegiate-ethics-case-competition/feed/0Entrepreneurial Group hosts 2nd Idea Pitch Competitionhttp://www.stetson.edu/today/2014/11/entrepreneurial-group-hosts-2nd-idea-pitch-competition/
http://www.stetson.edu/today/2014/11/entrepreneurial-group-hosts-2nd-idea-pitch-competition/#commentsSun, 02 Nov 2014 20:22:59 +0000http://www.stetson.edu/today/?p=12747Stetson University’s Entrepreneurial Group will hold their second annual Idea Pitch Competition on Tuesday, Nov. 11. The competition includes two categories: social (not for profit), and for profit. Students will submit a 60-90 elevator pitch outlining an idea for a new product, service, project or solution. The competition is open to all students at Stetson University.

Cash Prizes to the winners are $300 for 1st place, $200 for 2nd, and $100 for 3rd.

The 60-90 second videos are to be uploaded to the Stetson Entrepreneurial Group’s Facebook page, due by 11:59 p.m. onWednesday, Nov. 5. Voting on each video begins the following day, and 16 finalists will be invited to the Live Elevator Pitch Round on Tuesday evening, Nov. 11, where a panel of successful entrepreneurs from the community will judge all candidates in both categories.

More information and the complete lists of rules can be found at the SEG’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/StetsonEntrepreneurialGroup

The Stetson Entrepreneurial Group strives to promote the spark of creativity and innovation that is in all students. Open to all students of Stetson University, the Stetson Entrepreneurial Group is dedicated to striving for positive creative energy that is needed in the work force today. SEG sponsors many events around campus including forums for local business owners to talk about what it’s like opening and operating their own business. The Stetson Entrepreneurial Group is for anyone who has new ideas that they are ready to share with the world.

]]>http://www.stetson.edu/today/2014/11/entrepreneurial-group-hosts-2nd-idea-pitch-competition/feed/0D.A. Alumnus Designs Award-Winning Toolshttp://www.stetson.edu/today/2014/10/d-a-alumnus-designs-award-winning-tools/
http://www.stetson.edu/today/2014/10/d-a-alumnus-designs-award-winning-tools/#commentsWed, 15 Oct 2014 12:36:06 +0000http://www.stetson.edu/portal/stetson-today/?p=12454Joe Trupiano ‘04, who received his bachelor’s in digital arts at Stetson University, co-founded a company with Keith Robinson called Sample Logic LLC in 2006. The company was born from his thesis at New York University, where he received his master’s in composition and music technology. Since then, he has provided the award-winning tools for musicians and composers involved in film, television, and videogames.

“I learned many important things at Stetson,” said Trupiano. “I was taught everything from web design to graphics and marketing. The experience has helped me put a tangible vision and story to the products of the company I’m a part of.

“Stetson’s phenomenal Digital Arts program was what originally caught my interest,” explained Trupiano. “Many of the classes I had were project-oriented. It didn’t really feel like school, but more like a community set out to inspire. This made the D.A. program highly enjoyable and continuously pushed me to think outside the box. The professors in the department were actively engaged with the students by meeting and assisting us and offering inspiring ideas on projects.”

“Joe was a great student and a hard worker,” said Nathan Wolek, Ph.D., associate professor of Digital Arts and Music Technology and chair of the Creative Arts Department. “I remember that he would always come to our meetings with new musical material prepared and ideas for where we could take whatever project the course was working toward.”

“We design award-winning, modern day, virtual instruments specifically geared for film, television, and game composers,” said Trupiano. “Essentially, they are tools for musicians and composers to make music. Our products have been used in Avatar, CSI, Law and Order, South Park and much more. Our clients range from musicians and DJs who are just starting out to established musicians and composers such as Hans Zimmer, James Newton Howard, and The Crystal Method.”

Since Trupiano graduated, the Digital Arts program has developed and expanded.

“We have grown substantially,” said Wolek, “and we recently made some needed improvements in our facilities. This is just the beginning. Digital Arts is also now part of the large Creative Arts Department, of which I am the chair. It is far easier these days for students to work across the creative disciplines on campus and collaborate. Because we are at a liberal arts institution, our process doesn’t end with learning to use the tools. The tools are just a vehicle for expression, and we purposely push students to reflect on that creative process during their time at Stetson. We also integrate such thinking across a variety of creative applications, so students are not limited to only visual or coding or musical applications. They have the freedom to explore and develop expertise in all three. With that said, we are going to continue improving the quality of our academic program and the students we attract.”

In the photo, Trupiano dismantles a piano to transform its inspiring sounds into “evocative, cinematic instruments ready for all styles of sound production,” as described on the CINEMATIC KEYS website. CINEMATIC KEYS is a collection of keyboard instruments that are “destroyed to innovate,” and geared for film, television and game composers.